


your hand in mine

by filipinopercy (divineauthor)



Series: filipinopercy’s 600 follower celebration [12]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Gods (Percy Jackson), Angst and Feels, Angst with a Happy Ending, Drabble, F/M, Older Characters, Originally Posted on Tumblr, POV Annabeth Chase, Reconciliation, Sharing a Bed, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2020-09-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:02:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26536999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/divineauthor/pseuds/filipinopercy
Summary: He looks good. His hair is a little longer, making it curl more at the ends. There’s the barest hint of scruff tickling at his jaw and it surprises her. It shouldn’t, but she hasn’t seen him since they graduated high school and they’ve both graduated college months earlier. But she’s immortalized seventeen year old Percy in her mind: bright-eyed and smiling and beautiful. He’s just as handsome, maybe more now if that’s even possible, and it’s a wonder that she ever let him go.—•—Annabeth’s place floods, so she crashes with the only person who she knows will help her. Too bad she hasn’t spoken to him in years.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Series: filipinopercy’s 600 follower celebration [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1711804
Comments: 6
Kudos: 129





	your hand in mine

**Author's Note:**

> dedicated to chaerim !!! thank you for sending in a prompt for my [600 follower celebration](https://filipinopercy.tumblr.com/post/615882901030141952/biannabethchase-hiiiii-i-just-reached-600) !!! 
> 
> prompt: “Am I your lockscreen?” / “You weren’t supposed to see that.”
> 
> title from: louis tomlinson’s “we made it”

Annabeth scuffs her battered shoe on the floor, avoiding eye contact, and stares at the hole in Percy’s sleep shirt. Gray. It’s her favorite of his. It’s weird to think he has the same wardrobe after all these years. She can even remember how it felt if she thinks hard enough, all threadbare and worn on her skin. She always used to borrow it when she slept over. She clears her throat and her hand tightens its grip on her luggage. 

She makes the mistake of glancing upwards, her eyes catching his, and her free hand trembles slightly. She shoves her fist into her coat pocket, glad that winter still settled in around them. She hopes that he doesn’t notice her movement and almost sighs in relief when his eyes remain steadfast on hers, never flickering, never wavering. 

She takes in the sight of him and the pain burns at the center of her chest. He looks good. His hair is a little longer, making it curl more at the ends. There’s the barest hint of scruff tickling at his jaw and it surprises her. It shouldn’t, but she hasn’t seen him since they graduated high school and they’ve both graduated college months earlier. But she’s immortalized seventeen year old Percy in her mind: bright-eyed and smiling and beautiful. He’s just as handsome, maybe more now if that’s even possible, and it’s a wonder that she ever let him go. 

But he isn’t exactly hers to miss. 

She says, her voice deceptively even, “Thanks for doing this.”

“I’m not letting you sleep out on the streets, Annabeth.” Percy yawns widely and gestures her to come inside. A pang of guilt rattled around her throat, knowing she woke him up at an ungodly hour, years after they'd last spoken to each other. But Percy is Percy and she always knows she can count on him, even as years have passed. Percy’s loyalty is the most precious thing she’s ever earned. It’s a simple truth in the world that he will do anything for those he calls his friends and Annabeth is just lucky enough to still be his. 

Percy moves forward and takes the luggage from her hand and pulls it inside. The warmth of his body contrasts nicely against the brisk, late night wind and she tries with all her strength not to lean into him. 

As she closes the door, Percy’s already halfway up the stairs towards his room. She blanches and hurriedly toes off her shoes before padding up the stairs after him. “I was gonna take your couch, Perce. It’s not a big deal.”

Percy snorts. “The couch will break your back if you sleep on it for more than a night. Besides, you’re here for a few days. You can take the bed. I’ll take the couch.”

Annabeth’s fingers catch on his arm and he turns, eyebrows raised. “You _just_ said that the couch will break my back. You are not sleeping there. I literally barged into your apartment at three in the morning. I feel like that’s enough reason for me to sleep there.”

“Nope,” he says, grinning at her. He huffs out a laugh and he didn’t even sound winded hauling her bag up. He opens the door to his room and places her luggage near the closet. “You’re my guest.”

“Unwanted guest,” she corrects. 

He ruffles his hair and it’s so _familiar_ , it makes her miss him that much more. “Who said you’re unwanted.”

“Anyone in their right mind.”

“Annabeth, you could never be unwanted to me,” Percy says softly. She feels her face heat up and she focuses on getting her coat off instead of looking at him. She throws it on the chair and pushes her sleeves up to her elbows. 

She mutters, “Well… thank you.”

“No problem.” 

He turns to go back downstairs when she finally remembers where he intends to sleep. “Wait, you’re still not sleeping on the couch.”

“Where do you expect me to sleep, Chase?” He has this smug look on his face like he knows there’s no other option available. 

“With me,” she says, stubborn as a bull. Even though she _knows_ what it sounds like. 

“Oh, really?” he teases. 

She rolls her eyes. “Not like _that_. We’re both adults, we can sleep in the same bed.”

Percy looks at her for a hard second and shrugs. “As long as you’re fine, I’m good with it.”

“Then it’s settled.” Something in her shoulders loosen and she breathes out evenly. 

Percy nods and heads over to the right side of the bed where his phone laid and sat down. He has a full bed which is usually a decent amount of space for one person, but she’s going to have to avoid moving around if she doesn’t want to intrude on his space. It’s weird, honestly. She doesn’t regret saying they should share, but she’s acting like she hasn’t seen Percy for a week, not years. 

She grabs her pajamas—which are just an old, oversized camp shirt and a pair of ratty plaid bottoms that Annabeth’s pretty sure was Percy’s once upon a time—and heads to the bathroom she saw on her way to his room. She quickly shoves her clothes and balls up her old ones and walks back to Percy’s room. 

He’s sitting up against his headboard, his blanket already covering his legs, and he’s tapping something on his phone. She throws her clothes into the open luggage and slides in next to him. But before Percy can turn off his phone, she glances at his phone and gapes. 

“Am I your lock screen?” she asks. 

Percy fumbles with his hand and drops the phone. It lands face-down, so she can’t double-check to see if she imagined it. “You weren’t supposed to see that.”

“No, no”—she reaches out a hand to comfort him—“it’s sweet, Percy. Really.”

Percy stays unbearably quiet. 

“I’ve missed you too,” she confesses, gripping his hand in hers. His fingers remain loose for a second before he faces his palm upwards, threading their fingers together. She smiles softly. “Sorry I left.”

“Why did you?” His voice is low, barely audible. 

She knows why he asked. Before she left New York, before she left _Percy_ , they were both dancing around their feelings for each other. A sort of fondness rolls over her at the memories. It didn’t seem that long ago when she’d sleep over at his place and they stayed up all night talking about everything and nothing, or when they’d both linger too long when they hugged to be anything other than platonic, or when they both let their affection for each other shine and everyone around them always mistook them for a couple. 

But she got scared and despite knowing Percy for years, she couldn’t help but feel like he was too good to have, that if she took it further—if she asked for _more_ that her luck with him would disappear. So she left. Annabeth went to college across the country and let their interactions fade. She blamed it on college being hell, but she knew what she was doing. All she can say is that she hates that she hurt him. 

“I…” she starts, but falters. “I was terrified.”

“Of what?”

“You.” 

Percy stops breathing and she can feel him about to pull away. She grips his hand tighter, rubbing her thumb across the back of his hand. 

“Not like that. I could never be scared of you, Perce. I’ve known you since you were twelve when you wore cargo pants and I was taller than you.”

“Then _what_.” Something in his voice cracks. His head tilts downwards, blinking away his own tears. 

Her heart breaks at the sight. “You’re the only good thing in my life and I didn’t want to ruin that. But I did it anyway and I’m so sorry. I was terrified of being with you because if I lost you…”

“You’d never lose me,” he says vehemently and he turns to face her. His eyes are dark in the dim lighting and he lets go of her hand to cup her cheek. “You’re my best friend and you’ll always be my best friend even if you stop talking to me. I’ll always be there for you.”

“I know,” she whispers, tears welling up in her eyes. Percy’s thumb wipes them away with gentle strokes. “I miss you so much.”

“I’ve missed you too.” Percy leans in and presses his forehead against hers. 

“I can tell,” she says. “I’m your lock screen, remember?”

Percy huffs out a laugh and hesitates for a moment before he presses his lips against her cheek. “Let’s sleep, okay? It’s been a long day.”

Annabeth nods and they both slide down underneath the covers. She turns on her side while Percy faces the ceiling. Her right hand rests lightly on his chest and he holds her palm in his left. She’s tired enough that just laying down makes her eyes flutter shut. She murmurs, “Goodnight, Percy.”

“G’night,” he whispers. 

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed !!!! find me on [tumblr](http://filipinopercy.tumblr.com/) :D


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